2.1 Field of the Invention
The illustrative, illustrative technology herein relates to systems, software, and methods for policy-controlled restriction of classifier use by Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) Radios.
The technology herein has applications in the areas of DSA Radio design and operation and the ability to change radio operation according to one or more situational changes.
2.2 The Related Art
Radio frequency (RF) spectrum is a limited resource in high demand that must be shared by all of those needing to make use of it. With increasing use of cell phones, Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, remotely operated vehicles, and other users of RF spectrum, efficient use of the available RF spectrum is increasingly important, and past practices, such as setting aside entire bands for specific purposes or users, such as television (TV), broadcast radio, emergency services, radar, and military use, are wasteful of and make inefficient use of available spectrum. The concept of dynamic spectrum access (DSA) has been created as a way to protect assigned spectrum users (primary users), while permitting use of the same spectrum by others (secondary users), as long as unacceptable levels of interference with primary user use of assigned spectrum are avoided. Development of DSA technology is in progress, as are regulatory changes to permit its use.
To avoid unacceptable interference with primary users, conventional DSA devices detect use of assigned spectrum, determine whether the use is that of a primary user, and if so, take actions to either avoid communication over the in use channel, e.g. by switching to another spectrum or channel, or to share the assigned spectrum in a manner that does not interfere with use by the primary user. Examples of sharing the in use spectrum include reducing transmitted power, directing transmissions along paths that will not cause unacceptable interference, or scheduling secondary communication during temporal breaks in the primary communication.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a portion of a conventional DSA device employing a signal detector and a plurality of predefined signal classifiers operable on a digital processor. Each signal classifier is configured to determine whether the frequency spectrum or channel being probed by the detector is occupied or in use by a primary user and if so, which steps to take if a primary user signal is identified. The received signal data from the channel being received by a conventional DSA transceiver is input (1010) and passed to a signal detector (1020) and also to one or more classifiers (1030, 1040, & 1050). Each classifier uses a different classification method to attempt to classify the detected signal. The signal detector (1020) determines whether a signal is present (as opposed to noise), and outputs an indication of signal presence or absence (1025) to a frequency manager (1060). Output from any classifiers that successfully classify the signal (1045) is input, along with the output of the signal detector (1025), to the DSA frequency management component (1060) that determines whether a detected signal requires the current frequency in use to be vacated, or for other mitigating steps, such as power reduction or timing changes, be taken (1080), or not (1070).